The YFA has been running only since 1998 when the Smoothies got their claws into it. Before that it was the Young Tradition Award of which I have almost total non-recall except that Damien Barber won it in the early 1990s.

Tim van Eyken won the first YFA, a decision with which no-one could possibly argue, but in subsequent years I have been in constant variance with the judging panel. Not that there was anything bad about their choices but that the results were clearly pre-ordained: this year has got to be a solo instrumentalist/fiddle melodeon band/Irish/Scottish . . . or whatever. In fact, if they jus published tha year's criteria beforehand, no-one need bother going. Including the other contestants.